Original plan was to do just these three peaks.  We had options of adding in Hough and Dix if we felt it.  We didn't feel it.

The hike in started just after 4 in the morning.  1:45 later, we were 5 miles in at the slide brook herd path.  This path up was as I remembered it, but covered in hard packed snow, spikes were all that we needed.  Then we got to the slide.  This was covered in snow and ice, and the wind had covered up most of the previous tracks.  I switched to snowshoes, my hiking partner switched to crampons and we climbed up, quite easily actually.  The heel lifts on the shoes were a godsend for this.  We also watched the sun rise over Marcy as we climbed the slide.  The sky was clear, so there really wasn't much color, but still impressive.  We got to the top of Macomb and took in the view.  Then it was down to South.  This herd path was a little drifted, but still pretty hard packed.  I stayed in shoes until we got to the base of the scramble up South.

The scramble up South was the second place I had concerns, the first obviously being the slide.  The concerns were misplaced.  It was a simple climb up with microspikes, and when we got to the top, the wind died and we got amazing views and spent some time enjoying the sun.  The hike over to Grace was again pretty good, and relatively relaxing compared to what we've done so far.  Grace didn't disappoint with absolutely beautiful views over the Champlain valley and the Green Mountains of Vermont in the distance.  Then it was back to South where we sat on the viewpoint just before the top for a bit, and down to the col between South and Hough.  At this point, both of us realized we were out of juice.  I will kick myself because Hough was only 0.3 miles, 500 feet away, but I also know how steep it is, and I didn't have the energy to do it.  This also eliminated my third place of concern which was the Beckhorn.  I learned after the hike that the Beckhorn between Dix and Hough was not bad, but the trail down to Hunters Pass trail was super icy and not something one wants to go down.

I put the shoes back on as Lillian Brook was not that well broken out, and we went down to the trail out.  At one point I walked over a couple sprigs of spruce and didn't think about it.  My companion who was in spikes walked over them and fell in up to his knees.  Oops a spruce trap!  After that, he put his shoes on for the first time.  We made it down to the trail with little issue and then hiked out the 6+ miles to the car... at least it was mostly flat as this came out to 18 miles per GPS, or 16.6 miles per maps.

I'm now 5/46 for my winter 46.... only 41 more to go!!!